On August 28th 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and proclaimed to the people of the United States and the World:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. “
This speech was the culmination of a tremendous journey that brought this humble preacher from his quiet congregation in Montgomery, Alabama to the steps of power in Washington, D.C. Could Dr King, Jr. have imagined this journey before his congregant Rosa Parks stood up to the authorities on that famous bus ride home?
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire; you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will”- George Bernard Shaw.
Could Moses have imaged the journey he was to begin when he went up Mount Horeb to see the bush that was burning but not consumed by the fire?
Moses set his people free from the slavery of Egypt. He imagined his people free and from this dream he helped God to create freedom for the Jewish people.
Imagination is one’s path in life, each, very different. The steps you take and the obstacles you overcome help you to grow as an individual. When “ you imagine what you desire” striving to get an A on your next test for example, you push yourself and study to achieve your goal “you will what you imagine.” After hours upon hours of studying you take that test and receive that A as you imagined you would “and at last you create what you will.”
Each new idea comes from imagination; Vincent Van Gogh would never have been a painter had he not imagined himself with a paintbrush in hand. Rosa Parks would have never been a hero, if she was not, as Nikki Giovanni writes in her book Rosa, “tired of ‘coloured’ entrances, ‘coloured’ balconies, and ‘coloured’ taxis. She was tired of getting somewhere first and being waited on last. Tired of ‘separate’, and definitely tired of ‘not equal’. Steven Spielberg, himself a Jew, would not have been able to become the director he is today without his imagination and his will to create.
Imagine you heroes and your favourite artists, from music, to drama to visual arts-all are crucial elements to out influences and inspirations as young adults. Without the countless gifts of imaginative expression, presented by out heroes and favourite artists, would we be the same people who we are today, filled with dreams in search of insight?
Within your home community there is always a person you look up to confide in with trust. It could be a friend or family member or maybe someone of authority in your community. That person has their own ideals in life, coming from their ideas, which originate from their imagination. They dream and live up to what they desire, which is the fundamental message of George Bernard Shaw’s quotation.
In parashat Vayeitzei found in the book of Genesis, Jacob’s dream reflects an ancient belief in a cosmic bond between heaven and earth. In his dream he imagined himself embarking on a journey to the land of the people of Kedem. Its stated that in Jacob’s ladder dream the Eternal stood above the ladder, and said,
“ I, the Eternal, father of Abraham your father, and God of Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land upon which you are lying.
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth. You shall spread out to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south. All the families on earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.
I am with you. I will protect you wherever you go and bring you back to this soil. I will not turn aside from you until I have fully kept this promise to you.”
Even dreams can stimulate and perpetuate imagination, and push you to pursue something you have never quite thought of. With that said, Jacob followed his dream and led by his imagination he continued his journey to Kedem. He imagined himself doing something he desired then took the first steps in order to create his new beginning.
In life, one thing leads to another. In the beginning of time God imagined there would be one male and one female. If God imagined differently what would life be like today? Would you and I be here?
Approximately sixty years before Martin Luther King Jr., another man was fighting for the rights of his people. Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, stood before the world to proclaim the necessity of a Jewish homeland. Herzl coined the phrase “Im tirtzu ein zo agada” “If you will it, it is no fairytale,” which became the motto of the Zionist movement. Although at the time no one could have imagined it, Zionism led, only fifty years later, to the establishment of the independent State of Israel.
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire; you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will”. Moses, Dr King Jr., and Herzl all desired that their people would be able to pursue a life free from the taskmasters of their time. They understood that they had to create from their own imagination the freedom that they desired. It is the process of imagination, desire and the motivation to create, which spur people to do great things. George Bernard Shaw has shown us that our dreams and thoughts make us who we are. They truly serve as the deeply rooted foundation to our souls. In believing and self-actualizing them, we create what we will.
